News • Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4)
Obesity, fatty liver, insulin resistance: Liver enzyme might be to blame
German researches have linked the increased production of a certain enzyme in the liver to fatty liver and insulin resistance.
Research
News • Joint disease
Treating arthritis with algae
Could a new weapon in the fight against arthritis be found somewhere beyond the sea? New research from Switzerland encourages this idea.
News • Drug abuse
Methamphetamine use linked to heightened stroke risk in the young
The stimulant methamphetamine, also popularly known as ‘speed,’ ‘ice’ and ‘meth,’ is linked to a heightened risk of stroke among young people, reveals a review of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
News • Infections
Killing bacteria by hacking plastics with silver and electricity
Researchers at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet have developed an innovative way of hacking conducting plastics so as to prevent bacterial growth.
News • DNA fragments
Using barcodes to trace blood cell development
There are various concepts about how blood cells develop. However, they are based almost exclusively on experiments that solely reflect snapshots. In a publication in Nature, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg now present a novel technique that captures the process in a dynamic way.
News • Sugar molecules
Sweet help for cancer detection
Scientists from the University of Würzburg have synthesized a complex sugar molecule which specifically binds to the tumor protein Galectin-1. This could help to recognize tumors at an early stage and to combat them in a targeted manner.
News • Vaping
E-Cigarettes accelerate cardiovascular aging
A new study suggests that a single exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) vapor may be enough to impair vascular function.
News • Young at heart
Cardiac stem cells from young hearts could rejuvenate old hearts
Cardiac stem cell infusions could someday help reverse the aging process in the human heart, making older ones behave younger, according to a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.
News • Study
Mushroom protein could be used in leukemia treatments
A protein found in the edible mushroom known as "shaggy ink cap" might be able to kill a type of leukemia cell, new research suggests.
News • Weather influence
Rain increases joint pain? Google suggests otherwise
Some people with achy joints and arthritis swear that weather influences their pain. New research, perhaps the deepest, data-based dive into this suggestion, finds that weather conditions are indeed associated with Google searches about joint pain.
News • Rheumatoid arthritis
Hibernation causes inflammation
A research team found that in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, a special cell population called innate lymphoid cells are in a state of hibernation which is why these patients suffer from persistent inflammation.
News • Metastasis
Prostate cancer cells become ‘shapeshifters’ to spread to distant organs
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists report they have discovered a biochemical process that gives prostate cancer cells the almost unnatural ability to change their shape, squeeze into other organs and take root in other parts of the body.
News • Auditory Attention Decoding
Hearing aid uses deep neural network to filter out the noise
Columbia Engineers make major advance in helping the hearing impaired follow a conversation in a noisy environment - and bring cognitive hearing aids a step closer to reality.
News • Long-term effects
Targeted radiotherapy limits side effects of breast cancer treatment
Breast cancer patients who have radiotherapy targeted at the original tumour site experience fewer side effects five years after treatment than those who have whole breast radiotherapy, and their cancer is just as unlikely to return.
News • Caudate nucleus
How Alzheimer's puts your brain on autopilot - in a good way
Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have a larger caudate nucleus, a brain area involved in habits and used to navigate in the environment on an autopilot mode, shows for the first time a Canadian-Norwegian study published in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. Not good news, you may think. Hold on, this could open new research avenues for AD.
News • Combo therapy
How DNA damage calls immune cells to fight cancer
Findings suggest that modifying the cell replication cycle could make combined therapies more successful.
News • Vocalization
Speech impediment? The nucleus might be to blame
A genetic study identifies neuronal circuits responsible for ultrasonic calls uttered by mouse pups. The cries of human babies may well depend on similar connections, which could also be impaired in speech disorders.
News • Lifestyle-dependent illness
New treatment options for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most frequent liver diseases worldwide and an estimated 20 million people in Germany are affected.
Article • Skin protection
Self-improving DNA sun screen developed
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a coating made out of DNA that gets better at protecting skin from Ultraviolet light the more it is exposed to the sun and which could potentially be used as wound covering for extreme environments.
News • Colon cancer
Biomarkers identify aggressive Tumors
Early-stage colon cancer patients could benefit in the future from specific genetic tests that forecast their prognosis and help them make the right decision regarding chemotherapy.
News • Microscopy
Dense vessel network regulates formation of thrombocytes in bone marrow
Scientists from the University of Würzburg give fascinating 3D-insights into the bone marrow, and successfully elucidated new details about the process of thrombocyte generation.
Article • Infection control
Zika-vaccine receives boost
A promising Zika vaccine is on its way. Themis Bioscience GmbH (Vienna, Austria), a company specialised in vaccine development, has announced that the firm will receive One milion pounds sterling in funding by the innovation agency of the United Kingdom, Innovate UK, for the further development of this prophylactic vaccine and the conducting of a Phase 1 clinical trial.
News • Rare disorder
Possible treatment for child dementia discovered
Although dementia is most often seen in adults, childhood or adolescent dementia does occur. A team of researchers from the University of Würzburg believes that established therapeutic drugs might be effective against childhood dementia.
News • Changing lifestyle
One in three cases of dementia preventable
Experts say that one-third of the world’s dementia cases could be prevented by managing lifestyle factors such as hearing loss, hypertension and depression.
News • Blood test alternative
Oral "Hep E" test could simplify detection tremendously
A saliva test developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health nearly matches the performance of a blood test widely used to assess recent or past hepatitis E virus infections, a new study reports. The findings could offer an easier, less expensive alternative to gathering data for studying and eventually treating the disease, which infects an estimated 20 million…
